We Rise
by miimaicellf
Summary: With her little brother ascending the throne soon & her older sister gone, what's Kagome to do when a series of murders threatens to pull the 2 villages into an all out war? Nothing but rise to the occasion. Ch 3 up! on hold
1. Routine

The sun was just barely peeking over the horizon when Kagome got out of bed. She quietly slipped out of her room with her fresh clean clothes under her arm with out even bothering to brush her hair. She snuck out the back way stopping once at a small cabin at the edge of the forest. Within the forest was a small stream that separated her father's land from the land of the Inu no Tashio. Her town was the only one that had a neighboring demon town so close. The peace treaty they had come up with long, long ago made all of that possible.

Kagome took a quick peek into the window of the one room cabin before gloomily continuing into the forest. As she walked, she shivered slightly and glancing down at herself Kagome instantly knew the reason why. Silently scolding herself, Kagome tightly wrapped her arms around herself. Her sleeping garments were nothing more than a long white haori that reached half way down her thigh. She remained on the dirt road for a brief period before wandering to a path that seemed like only she could see for there were no markers or any other signs to indicate that there was such a trail. Soon enough she came to huge boulder the size of a small hill and at the foot of said boulder was a modest hot spring whose borders were surrounded by small rocks and even the roots of a tree not too far away.

"Oh, sister, I did not expect you to be here too." Kagome quickly bowed to show her respect and to hide the surprise that she was convinced Kikyo had heard in her voice. She cringed and awaited the firm lecture that she was sure to receive for her slip, but it never came. Kikyo was sitting with most of her body in the hot spring. Her head was resting in her arms outside the spring. Her eyes were half closed in boredom or annoyance, Kagome knew not which, and her long blackish brown hair cascaded beautifully around her face and down her back.

"Would you mind if I joined you?" Kikyo did not stir nor make any sign that she had heard her younger sister. Kagome dropped her clean clothes on a near by rock and quickly disrobed. She dipped her toes into the water and Kikyo still gave no reaction so, shrugging her shoulders, Kagome slipped into the hot spring next to Kikyo with a huge smile and a content sigh. "Kagome," Kikyo finally turned her whole body to face her, "being a priestess means not having one moment of weakness. When you display your emotions so freely, it gives your enemies an opening. How many times must I repeat myself?" Her face was expressionless but her eyes were so cold and hard that even the sun couldn't warm her arctic gaze.

Kagome shrugged deeper into the water and fidgeted with her elbow length hair trying to avoid Kikyo's eyes, "I'm sorry sister," she mumbled. Kikyo turned from her and got out of the hot spring. Steam rose from her figure and water dripped off her pale skin as she dried and clothed herself. She wore the traditional priestess outfit and tied her hair back in a lose ponytail. Without another word or a single glance toward Kagome, Kikyo silently made her way back to her cabin.

Kagome sighed and submerged herself into the hot spring for a few seconds before whispering, "I know Kikyo, I know." Kagome sighed once more before scrubbing herself clean. Once she was content with her state of cleanliness Kagome climbed out of the hot spring. Though the two young women looked very alike, Kagome was not as pale as her older sister nor as in control of her emotions. Her hair was black with a blue tinge and reached her elbows while Kikyo's was blackish brown and was at waist level.

Kagome sadly dried herself with her previously discarded sleeping attire and donned a similar priestess outfit. Whereas Kikyo's had been the customary white top with the red pants, Kagome's was a white top with light green pants symbolizing that she was not yet at the priestess level. Kagome didn't really mind that she wasn't a certified priestess. What really angered her was when people thought that because she wasn't a true priestess that it meant that she was somehow weaker or incompetent. Shaking her head to rid herself of her thoughts she quietly made her way back to the village.

Some of the early bird villagers were already out cleaning their huts or otherwise getting ready for the day. Kagome greeted many of the villagers with a warm smile and a small bow of her head. She returned to the castle without once running into Kikyo only to feel a presence in her room. She quietly cracked open the door and peaked inside. There was a small lump in the middle of her bed. Her brother had, no doubt, fallen asleep waiting for her to return once again and was currently curled under her covers. An affectionate smile made its way to her lips as she approached her younger brother.

Ever since their father had died Sota had woken early and gone to Kagome's room with out fail, and each time Kagome wasn't there Sota would curl up on her bed to wait for her and eventually fall asleep. Her brow furrowed. That wasn't right because she remembered crawling into her mother's bed with Kikyo and Sota and even crawling into Kikyo's bed at times. As she began to question her memory, she went about her room tidying up. There wasn't much to do since her room was almost completely barren except for her bed near the window and a small dresser against the right wall. Musing once more, she sat on her bed and subconsciously began to chew on her bottom lip, a clear sign of concentration and a childhood habit of which her family wasn't too keen on. However, her train of though was disrupted before it really began as Sota began to stir from his slumber.

"Hey, how are you feeling?" Kagome whispered as Sota's head popped out from under the covers. Her only reply was a sleepy grunt. She smiled once more. Outside her room, the peaceful murmur of the maids going about their tasks was suddenly disrupted. A male's voice, full of worry and anxiety, was heard right outside Kagome's room. "Has anyone seen Prince Sota?" Immediately Sota, who had been sluggishly rubbing the sleep from his eyes, perked up and gave his sister a desperate glance before pulling the cover over his head and trying his best to hide. "His Majesty demands that the young prince meet his tutor in the library immediately!" Panic had already begun to seep into the young man's voice. There was a slight knock on the door. Kagome looked back at the lump that was her brother and shook her head chidingly before whispering, "Come in."

A young man, slightly older than herself about 17 or 18, walked in. He wore a light purple page's uniform with long black sleeves and looked about ready to brake down and cry. "Masao," she greeted. The man now identified as Masao opened his mouth to speak, but quickly remembering his manners, made a hasty bow, which flung his long orangey brown hair all over the place. After a short struggle to tame the rebellious hair Masao gave up and cried out, "Please princess! It is imperative that the young prince make his way to the library!" His eyes were watery and he was gripping the front of his shirt so tightly that his knuckles were turning white. Sota remained perfectly still hidden from Masao's line of sight behind his sister. Kagome bit her lip slightly before answering, "I'll tell him if I see him." Masao practically threw himself at Kagome but refrained from doing so, but just barley. Instead, he yelled a grateful thank you from half way down the hall as he continued his search for Sota.

Kagome looked back at her brother, "You should really not worry Masao so much. I mean, look at the poor guy, he's so young and already so used up." "I know, I know. But, how would you like it if you had to get up early every day just to go study some dusty old books about who knows what?" Sota said with a bit of annoyance in his voice as he got out from under the covers. Kagome gave him a hello-what-about-me look. "Well, you choose to get up early and do your priestess thingy." Deciding to ignore this, Kagome ushered her brother out and said, "Don't stress out Masao any further and go to the library or grandpa might decide to send the whole army to look for you," with a sigh she added, "again."

Sota had been sitting in the library for hours going over books about some old dead guy who did something important a very, very, very long time ago. He snuck a peek at his tutor. Waka fixed his gaze on him, "Finished already, Prince Sota?" Waka was about as tall as Kagome and older than Kikyo. He seemed to have a thing for black close-fitting clothes though not quite skin-tight. Sota quickly returned his eyes to the book. Oh, how he hated Waka! He knew Waka was smirking and probably fooling around with the ends of his hair. Waka was obsessed with his long black hair for it reached half way down his thighs and was straight and shiny. Sota had his suspicions about Waka's sexual preferences and had devised a plan with Kagome to find out a long time ago. Sadly, their plan was never instigated because at a curtail point grandpa had discovered the devious duo and put a stop to their plan.

At the point when Sota was about ready to fling the book at Waka's smirking face, young Masao walked nervously into the library. The second he stepped foot in the door Waka's smirk collapsed. If not for the fact that Sota was in enough trouble as it was, what with him "getting lost" on his way to the library and all, he probably wouldn't have been able to contain his laughter as well as he did. The few giggles that did escape, however, were quickly silenced with a glare from Waka. Any one could see that Waka hated Masao. The reasons were unclear but Sota had his money on sexual frustration. Kagome, on the other hand, thought that Waka was just jealous of Masao's hair even though it wasn't nearly as long as Waka's it looked really soft she reasoned.

"His Majesty demands your presence, Waka." Masao managed to say without looking directly at him. Waka ignored him and continued to play with his hair. Once more Masao's nervous side showed as he gripped the front of his shirt, "W-Waka!" Waka's eyes immediately flashed with anger. He slowly uncrossed his legs and stood to his full height glaring down his nose at Masao. This was extremely difficult seeing as Masao was at least half a foot taller than Waka. But Masao seamed to make it easier for him, for the second Waka's eyes landed on him he seemed to shrink into his uniform's black collar. He swallowed the knot in his throat and continued, "His majesty insists that you come immediately! An emergency has occurred and your counsel is required!"

Sota had been pleasantly ignoring both his homework and the conversation, doodling on his papers until the normally quiet Masao began to raise his voice. Out of reflex, Sota threw himself under the table so quickly that he bumped his head into it and many of the papers scattered. Masao took this chance to escape Waka's wrath, "Prince Sota! Are you alright?" He rushed around the table to Sota's side, "Yeah, yeah I'm fine." He rubbed his head and allowed Masao to help him to his feet. "So what's the emergency?" Sota returned to his chair with out bothering to pick up his papers. In fact, he dropped the remaining papers as well. "Well?"

Masao completely ignored Sota's question and instead turned to face Waka, "Um, w-we shou-should get going then. R-right Waka?" Waka turned up his nose and gracefully walked towards the library exit with Masao awkwardly following behind him. "I hope this doesn't take too long. Kagome promised to take me to see Kohaku later today." Sota calmly followed with his hands behind his head and a relived expression on his face. Waka calmly turned around while Masao quickly spun back in surprise and began to choke. "Hey, are you ok Masao?" Sota asked, concern clearly evident in his voice. Masao held up his hand and tried to nod but instead continued to cough. Waka was quickly getting annoyed with having to be ordered around by such a brainless imbecile and now the twit was chocking. And on **his own spit **to boot.

Suppressing a growl, Waka none too gently smacked Masao in the back sending the coughing man to the floor. "Waka!" the young prince growled. Immediately Sota bent down to help the man sprawled on the grown. Waka waved his hand dismissively, "He'll live. Besides, I was trying to help him." He frowned down at the shaky man on his knees. "Feeling better?" he asked with a cruel smile on his lips. Masao gently wiped some saliva from his chin with his uniform's black sleeve and patted the dust off his purple front as he stood up. He turned to Sota, pointed back at the table were he had been studying and for once in his life looked intimidating. "This matter does not concern you Prince Sota; please return to your studies. Another tutor will come shortly." The two older men left quickly after and Sota sluggishly made his way back to the table.

He had been sitting at the table twirling his pencil for almost an hour now when he decided he was ready to ditch the whole thing to go find Kagome. Sota stood up and made sure to step on all the papers that littered the floor before heading to the door but before he was halfway there, a young man opened the door from the other side with much difficulty. He was 16 and had long brown hair tied in a low pony tail that reached the middle of his back. The young man was wearing a bluish green hakama and his arms were weighed down with books as well as various assortments of fruits. He smiled while he stumbled over to a nearby table, "I'm sorry for the wait, Prince Sota , but there was this nice old lady who needed help getting her cat out of a tree and after that a little boy needed help finding his mother and then…" Sota grudgingly walked up to the babbling idiot ignoring him after the first five seconds.


	2. Dilemma

**Sorry meant to do this last time but I forgot so this will count for both the first and second chapter: I, miimaicellf, do not own any of the Inuyasha characters only the OC's and the plot. Enjoy!**

Sota waited until the man before him paused for breath, "Hojo, what are you doing here?" Hojo blinked, "Look at me running my mouth again." He gave him a sheepish smile, "Waka said you needed a tutor for a few hours, so I though I'd help out. Come, we should get studying." Hojo's jaw immediately dropped as they approached the desk. Sota laughed nervously. "I see. This was why Waka was in such an irritable mood." Hojo said after he regained control of his mouth. "Heh heh, um, not really." Suddenly Sota though of something, "Hojo? Does Waka hate you?" he asked looking directly at Hojo's long brown ponytail. Hojo crossed his arms across his chest and cocked his head to one side causing his ponytail to swing. Sota was abruptly overcome by the sudden desire to tug on it. "Not as far as I know." With a cat like grin, Sota circled behind the pensive man and swatted at the light brown hair, but at the last second Hojo tilted his head to the other side making Sota miss, "Hmm… I don't see why he would." Before Sota could take another swing at it, Hojo turned. "Prince Sota? What are you doing?"

Kagome tied her hair in a high ponytail as she walked out of her room. She cautiously walked out of the castle peeking around ever corner as she went. As she neared the exit of the castle's gardens, she gave a sigh of relief. Her happiness was cut short, however, as a voice she recognized all too well said, "Skipping practice again, Kagome?" She turned with a fake smile firmly on her lips, "No, not at all sister Kikyo." Her sister raised an eyebrow clearly not buying it. Without saying a word she turned on her heal and walked back into the gardens, Kagome following dejectedly behind. Once they arrived at their destination Kagome found her bow and a quiver of arrows waiting for her. Sighing she picked them up, _At least we're out here this time_. She took a good look around and smiled, this was one of her favorite gardens.

A huge tree hung over the side of the hedge on one corner and various plum trees were scattered about along with some peach trees. The grass was soft and was a few inches short of her ankles. Around the corner, water from a simple fountain could be heard gurgling soothingly. Kagome loved all these things and more about this specific garden, however, there was one thing that truly made it special to her. It was here that their father would bring his two precious daughters and his baby boy when he wanted to relax and enjoy life. This had been their father's favorite garden.

Kikyo regarded her sister carefully. She watched as her eyes wandered around the garden. First to the biggest tree, whose branches hung over the hedge, then to all the smaller fruit trees that littered the garden. Kagome even looked back the way they had come from. She closed her eyes and paused in her sweep of the garden to listen to the faint bubble of the fountain near by, her smile widening in delight. Kikyo followed suit. With her eyes closed, she could feel the faint breeze brushing against her skin and making her hair dance gently behind her. She could smell the fresh grass and the sweet scent of ripe fruit. Sensing a change in her sister's mood, Kikyo opened her eyes.

Her sister was looking at the statue that had been erected in honor of their father. It stood near a small pond and was as tall as life. He had his arm around his young wife's waist, her head resting lovingly on his shoulder, and was smiling his trademark smile, guaranteed to brighten anyone's day. At one time, everyone had agreed that both his daughters had inherited his smile. However, Kagome's smile had become sadder with the years and it seemed that Kikyo's smile had disappeared completely. The statue was relatively new compared to everything else in this garden, seeing as their father had died when Kikyo was 9 and Kagome was 6. It was around that time that she and Kagome had started learning to use and control their spiritual powers. Under Grandma Kaede's careful instruction, both had become stronger and this gave the villagers a further sense of protection. Not that their demon neighbors had done anything since the treaty was established to doubt their sincerity, but everyone felt much safer with 2 very able priestesses around. "Let's get to work." Kikyo said wanting to bring her sister out of her sadness.

Just as they were done picking up the papers, a strange sound was heard heading towards the massive library. Both current occupants stopped to listen. Hojo turned to face the door, "I wonder what's going on?" Sota simply shrugged his shoulders ready to duck under the desk at a moment's notice. The noise was steadily getting louder. Sota peeked around Hojo looking at the door as if it would burst open at any second to reveal a bloodthirsty monster ready to devour them. Nothing happened only the sound of footsteps became louder as the source got closer and closer. "S-stampede?" Hojo offered timidly. Once more Sota shrugged his shoulders. At this point, the footsteps were passing by the library and voices could be heard. A particularly close one was that of a woman as she yelled, "Pervert!" this was immediately followed by a loud resounding smack. At this, both Hojo and Sota visibly relaxed and soon the footsteps faded away.

A small jingle was heard as someone approached the library door from the outside. A young man, 19 or so, opened the door and walked in muttering something about a cursed hand. He wore a black and purple monk's robe, had his hair in a short black ponytail and was sporting a nice red handprint on his left cheek. Glancing up, he noticed the young prince and his substitute tutor, "Prince Sota, Hojo, how wonderful to see you both." He finished his greeting with an elegant bow. "Hey Miroku, what'd you do now?" Sota asked as he pointed to the handprint while Hojo scurried over to his forgotten pile of fruit and began to paw through it. Miroku scratched his cheek and smiled, "I merely asked the young lady-" "Here Miroku, this will help reduce the swelling on your cheek," interrupted Hojo as he handed the monk some squishy sort of fruit. Miroku looked at it with a strange expression but took it nonetheless and put it in a fold of his robe as he nodded his thanks.

"Miroku, what are you doing here? You can't be here on a job, or, are you?" Sota said as he made his way towards the door. Miroku followed the young prince as Hojo rushed to his precious pile of fruit and attempted to carry it, along with Sota's books, before they got too far. Sota saw his chance at freedom and slightly increased his pace. A small smile appeared on Miroku's face as he easily kept up with the young prince, "Well, I was in town to stock up on supplies and I thought I'd stop by and say hello." Sota raised his eyebrow clearly doubting the monk, "Really?" Hojo struggled under the pile's weight and having to catch up with the two males who were quickly approaching the library's door. Miroku opened the door allowing Sota to exit first and let the door swing close behind him. "W-wait! You guys? Could some one please open the door?"

Sota felt a bit guilty for leaving the young man behind but was quickly over it as he thought of all the things he was now free to do. Of course, he would have to face an angry Waka and a very worried Masao later. _Grandpa will probably give me a huge lecture of how I could've been in danger and no one would've been able to find me and Kagome will probably scold me for worrying Masao again_, Sota though with a sigh. All the while, the silent monk watched with increasing curiosity as the young prince beside him went through many rapid emotional changes. _My, my, young Sota. Have you got a stressful responsibility placed upon you: immense joy, anxiety, guilt, boredom, sadness…what could be troubling you so? _Sota noticed Miroku looking at him with a concerned expression. "What?" Sota bit out annoyed at being regarded in such a way. Miroku simply shook his head and smiled.

Kikyo looked down at her sister lying down on the grass beside her, "Brake's over." Kagome grimaced slightly as she stood up. She stretched as Kikyo walked away, "It's all worth it." She whispered as she walked out the same way her older sister had gone. She smiled to herself and with a nod headed to the west side of the village while Kikyo went to the east side. Immediately, she was asked for help as an elderly man struggled with some groceries. Both sisters spent the day helping out as best they could, their tasks ranging from babysitting all the way to performing exorcisms.

Kagome was in their village's small hospital when Miroku and Sota walked in. She fixed her brother with a small frown, "Are you done studying? 'Cause if you're not you should just march right back to Waka." Miroku decided that he wasn't needed here and went off to pursue a pretty young nurse. "Technically, I was dismissed." Kagome raised an eyebrow, "Is that so?" Before Sota could answer, a loud smack was heard throughout the hospital. Kagome, Sota and even the young injured man Kagome was currently bandaging up shook their heads and sweat dropped. Sota wisely chose this time to go look for Miroku.

"I see, grandfather. However, I think it would be best if you could delay this a bit longer." Kikyo stated from her position kneeling in front of her mother and grandfather. She refused to meet his gaze and instead opted to look at her mother. The older woman turned to her father in-law, "I think so too grandpa," said the elder Higurashi as she gently put her hand on top of the old man's. He snatched his hand back, "I will decide when the time is and I have decided that the time is now!" Kikyo narrowed her eyes as she looked about the room and noticed that there were a lot more guards than normal, _something is not right._ "And that is the final decision." finished the old man with an angry puff of his chest. Unbeknownst to him the same thought traveled through both of the Higurashis' minds, _Stubborn old man._

_Walking to one of the demon slayers' training grounds at the far side of the village Kagome suddenly sneezed._ "You're not getting sick, are you Lady Kagome?" She blinked and smiled, "Nah just had to sneeze is all." As they approached, a tall figure could be seen sparing with a younger smaller figure. Before they were close enough to make out too many details a female voice full of confrontation drifted towards the three as its owner made its way to the trio, "What is **he** doing here?" The man being referred to walked to the taller of the two people. "My dearest Sango, how I've longed to see your beautiful face." Miroku raised his hand as if to stoke her face but Sango quickly brought up her giant boomerang as a shield, "Get away from me, you lecherous monk!" Miroku faked offense, "You wound me deeply Sango." The tall woman, being only a head or so taller than Kagome, gave a most unladylike snort, "Puh-lease."

The younger demon slayer approached the group. He was a bit sweaty and held a chain sickle. The royal siblings decided to remain out of the little spat and turned to the younger demon slayer. He had a few freckles on the bridge of his nose and had short brown hair held in a ponytail. A warm smile spread across his features as he bowed to the siblings in turn, "It is an honor that you grace us with your presence." Sota went right next to the older boy and lightly yanked on his ponytail, "Come on Kohaku, there's no need to be so formal." Kagome immediately frowned. "Sota," she warned. Kohaku put up his hands, "No!" his hands instantly shot up to cover his mouth. "Uh, what I was trying to say…I meant…It didn't…I'm sorry."

Kagome smiled and bent down to eye level, "What's wrong, Kohaku? I'm not going to bite you, you know." A light blush covered his face. Kohaku opened his mouth but before he could say anything, an angry cry of "Hiraikotsu!" was heard behind them. Miroku ducked in time for his head to remain attached to his neck. A seething Sango caught the giant boomerang with ease and walked stiff legged to a small bench under a tree nearby. Miroku and Kagome followed her with Kohaku and Sota trailing behind lost in their own conversation.

"Is something the matter, Sango?" Kagome asked genuinely concerned. Meetings between Sango and Miroku were always bound to be violent, but actually throwing the Hiraikotsu at such close range, something was definitely bothering her. Kagome sat beside Sango and placed a hand gently on her shoulder. Miroku cautiously took his seat on Sango's other side. Sango turned to study her best friend and princess, Kagome. Despite the difference in class, the two became close friends so quickly. That wouldn't have surprised anyone, though, since Kagome was always such a kind child.

Sango had first laid eyes on the smiling young princes when she was 6 and Kagome 5. Her father had taken her with him to talk to the King. Sango being still such a young child did not fully understand what was being discussed but she remembered the two smiling princess and the King overjoyed and showing off his two precious daughters to anyone who would be still long enough for him to do so. Kikyo had taken Kagome's smaller hand in hers and had invited Sango to sneak away with them. At the time, both the princesses' smiles had been warm and friendly and Sango found it impossible to refuse.

With a sigh Sango brought herself back to the present, "Kagome, um, there's something you need to be made aware of." With a puzzling gaze from Kagome she continued, "You see, there are…not all the villages are as lucky as we are." "I don't get what you're trying to say. Do you mean the treaty or maybe that there are 3 priestesses here?" Miroku stood from his spot on the bench and walked the short distance to Kagome. He kneeled in front of Sango in such a way so that he was facing the princess, "I think she means both," his hand sneakily made its way up Sango's leg, "for no other village has had a treaty last as long as the one made between your village and the one across the forest." They all turned in the direction of the forest, the afternoon glow of the sun making it seem more ominous. Nobody noticed the monk's hand come to a rest on the demon slayer's knee as he continued, "This village is also very fortunate to have 3 very talented priestesses. However some villages are not so well off and sometimes, things must be done to insure the safety of those who need help."

Sango was surprised that the monk understood what was going on despite having been gone from the village for 3 years when she had just today been informed of what was to begin. She did not notice that Miroku's hand resumed its journey up her leg as a troubled expression crossed Kagome's face. The princess's stomach dropped as she realized there were only a few ways for her village to help others and all those ways included leaving in some form. She bit her lip as thoughts raced about her head each more flawed then the last. Tears threatened to well up in her eyes. Kagome blinked rapidly, "I -I see. I must go talk with grandpa then. See you guys later." As she stood to leave Sango took hold of her wrist lightly, "If there's anything I can do to help please tell me, ok?" Kagome nodded as she looked at her friend. Sango was confused as Kagome cracked a small smile. Her confusion didn't last long, however, as Kagome pointed. Sango followed the finger and her eyes came to a hand that was suspiciously close to her butt. Without delay Miroku was knocked flat on his back. Kagome gave them one last look as she headed back to the castle a small laugh escaping her lips. _Thanks guys._

Kikyo sat on the ground babysitting two young siblings as they ran about the grass. She kept a careful eye on them but her mind was elsewhere. _Kagome will not accept her task easily, and by the time she does things will be much worse. By that time it won't matter how many of us there are, even if we all fought together it would still be extremely difficult to do much. If there are any survivors. She might go more willingly if she was given all the information, but still…"_Is something the matter priestess Kikyo?" asked the older sibling a small frown on his face. His younger brother clung to his arm with a scared expression, "Momma said there are demons over there." All three looked to the forest that separated the humans of this village from the demons that inhabited the other village. Kikyo nodded as she stood, right away, the two boys held her hands and they proceeded to walk back to their hut. Kikyo explained the treaty that protected their village as best she could with out sounding too vague or precise.

**Ok now that most of the introductions are over we can finally get to the real deal. How is Kagome going to weasel out of her responsibility and what does Kikyo mean, it might be too late? Find out in the next chapter when some of the demonic neighbors finally make an appearance. Leave a review and tell me what you think so far. Comments, criticism and even flames are accepted (well, as long as the flames don't burn down my house). **


	3. Enter koga and the fox child

**DISCLAIMER : I do not own any of the Inuyasha characters just the OC's and the plot. As a side note , it has finally been decided that this will be a SesshxKag (or maybe one sided), but don't let that stop you from reading the rest of this. Please? **

Kagome went to bed early that night, though she wasn't the least bit sleepy. She flopped on her stomach and frowned into her pillow. Her talk with her grandfather hadn't gone as well as she'd hoped and she had then been informed that the suitors would begin arriving tomorrow afternoon._ Why couldn't Kikyo be the one married off, she's older. If only she wasn't a priestess._ She bunched up the covers as she let a small growl escape her lips, mad at herself for even thinking such a thing.

Finally fed up with it all, Kagome pulled on a long robe and walked out of her room without a sound. Pulling the hood down lower on her face and hiding any trace of her aura she silently thanked Kaede for teaching them how to do this, as she snuck passed some sleepy guards. Deciding that it'd be too much of a risk to go to her father's garden she instead walked into the forest. She walked to the small river that was the actual boundary between her father's land and the great dog general's land careful of not making too much noise.

--

Kagome crouched near the narrowest part of the river watching the water trickle by with disinterest. She gently swirled her fingers in the icy cold water while she wondered at what was to come, her insides as cold and numb as her fingers. Hearing a noise behind her, her shoulders immediately tensed up and she froze snapping to attention. Kagome cursed her stupidity for forgetting to bring her bow and arrows as she slowly withdrew her hand from the water. _Demons live on the other side of this river, duh. One would expect to come across **one**, at the very least._ If worst come to worst she could always purify them through direct contact, but at that proximity; she could be poisoned, heavily injured or have her head bitten off and none of those possibilities looked too appealing at the moment. And of course there was always the chance that her actions could brake the fragile peace that had taken so many lives to achive.

"What are you doing here? Human," for surely a being that easily frightened and small had to be a human, "do you realize that you've just trespassed into the demons' side of this territory? You've just broken the treaty that took countless battles and even more lives to establish." the demon behind Kagome spoke in an obviously male and gruff voice. The demon cocked its head in confusion. At first, the human in front of him didn't seem to have its own scent but it gave off the scent of relief instead of the fear he was expecting. He was about to fix that when the human stood up, a familiar sent reaching his nose. The robe fell off as Kagome spun towards the familiar voice and wrapped her arms around his middle. The demon wore a shocked expression as he chocked out what his senses had already confirmed, "K-Kagome?"

She smiled softly up at him, her eyes watery and a small blush dusting her cheeks. She nodded against his armor, the cold steel making her shiver. "It's been a while, huh Koga?" Feeling her shiver, Koga immediately wrapped his arms around her. "Too long." he whispered into her hair enjoying the warmth of her body pressed to his. They stood that way for a while, not saying a word. Kagome shivered once more and Koga held her tighter. "No wonder you're so cold," he said as he looked her over. Underneath her cloak, Kagome had been wearing her sleeping garments, which were only a long white haori that stopped halfway down her thighs.

A blush lit up Kagome's face as she realized her state of dress or, rather, undress. She scurried to her previous spot and donned the fallen cloaked quickly. Koga suddenly found the moon to be the most interesting thing he'd seen as he looked up with a blush staining his cheeks. "So…what are you doing here?" he asked clearly trying to avoid looking at Kagome. She gave him a small shy smile as she walked back to him. "I should be the one asking you that." she said poking him in the chest gently. His only response was to blink, after which he broke out in a full and boisterous laugh.

They talked long into the night sitting side by side catching up on passed memories of tag and hide-and-seek among many others. Occasionally, Koga would stop and cock his head to one side as if listening to something far off in the distance but he would make no comment on what he heard and Kagome didn't ask. When she told him of the suitors that would begin coming tomorrow, Koga, half jokingly, asked if she wanted him to kill them for her. Of course Kagome strictly forbade him from doing anything remotely similar anyways. The far side of the sky was becoming lighter when Kagome headed back to the castle, her aura once more masked and her hood shadowing her face.

Once inside her room she heaved a sigh of relief as she pressed her forehead to the wooden door. "Out late, Kagome?" Her breath hitched in her throat as she spun around to face the owner of the voice. "S-sister Kikyo," Kagome pulled the hood back to look closely at her sister, "what are you doing here?" Kikyo uncrossed her arms and stood from Kagome's bed. "I wished to speak to you but it shall have to wait 'till later. Get some rest, you have a long day ahead of you." Her face was calm and serious as she walked out of the room without a single glance back at Kagome.

--

Kagome woke up grouchily the next morning. The fact that she was going to meet one of the men she might have to spend the rest of her life with and that she hadn't gotten much sleep tended to do that to her. That, and the fact that her brother pounced on her while loudly telling her to get up contributed to her grouchiness. At the table she said no more than a handful of words to her family and only spoke to her grandfather if she absolutely had to. She munched on her breakfast unenthusiastically and tuned out the voices around her until her grandfather cleared his throat, signaling that he had something important to say.

"You are free to do what you wish for now. In the afternoon you are to come to the main hall to meet lord-" Kagome blocked out the rest of her grandfather's sentence as she excused herself from the table. Sota immediately followed after saying he was late for one thing or another. "Grandfather, I am going to see how I can be of some help. I'll leave in about a week but I'm not sure when I'll be back." Kikyo looked to her grandfather for an objection but was pleasantly surprised when he nodded. She also excused herself and walked out of the castle.

--

Kagome walked to the river hoping to resume her conversation with Koga, but he was nowhere to be seen. She didn't want to get caught on the other side of the river, _demons tend to be very territorial_, so she decided to walk the length of the river while she dreadfully waited for the afternoon to come. A while into her walk she slumped against a tree bored out of her skull.

Letting her mind wonder, she was unaware of when the little fox child had first arrived. He seemed just as oblivious of her presence for he was busily gathering up armfuls of acorns while humming a merry tune in his squeaky child's voice and very out of pitch. He would gather as much as he could hold and then hop back to the other side of the river, his puffy orange tail disappearing into the bushes as he waddled into the forest. After a few minutes he'd return picking up any acorns that he might've dropped and would continue his search for more, not once stopping his little song. Kagome almost let out a small giggle as the fox child repeated these actions several times.

Kagome waited after his trip back into the bushes when she could no longer hear his humming before she moved. She gathered a small pile of acorns in her hands and squatted down near the river with her arms out in front of her in offering. A few minutes later the small fox returned humming a new song but still very out of pitch. He picked up some of the fallen acorns on the demons' side of the river before his eyes fell on the small pile of acorns in Kagome's hands. With a delighted smile on his young face and an extra bounce in his step, he made his way over to the crouching priestess-in-training.

His stubby little hands reaching forward before he was even across, the young fox demon never once took notice of the smiling young woman holding the acorns out to him. He stuffed some into his sleeves and loaded the rest onto his arms all the while humming his little song and not even looking at the priestess-in-training that had now joined him in humming the song. Only when the pile was gone, did he notice that there were hands still cupped now holding air where there had been acorns. Immediately the song froze in his throat. Eyes wide with shock, the small fox took a shaky step back as he slowly looked up into Kagome's face.

She gave him a small smile as she gently picked up an acorn that had fallen from his pile. "Here," she said placing it in his arms. His mouth dropped open and the acorns spilled out of his arms like hard golden raindrops as the small fox fled across the river and back into the bushes with a squeak of surprise. Kagome stood with her arm outstretched, "Wait! I didn't mean to scare you I just…" _wanted to what? Have the fox child solve all your problems? Get real Kagome. _She silently scolded herself as her arm fell limply to her side.

**Sorry for the long wait and unfortunately this story will be put on hold. I'll probably go back and fix this chapter later but I just wanted to update this story before I move and so the crummy chapter. Feel free to scold me but please give me some kind of feed back. **


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